Many consumers still aren’t aware of the fact that their HSA is not just a tax-free savings vehicle for them to use on healthcare expenses throughout the year, but it’s also a really powerful long-term financial tool that can set them up for success in retirement and beyond. So the fact that this account is flexible, theirs to own, and has the advantage of not just spending now but also saving for the future — I think that’s the most important thing consumers need to know.

Along the lines of the long-term advantages of an HSA, I think some consumers are still very surprised that the returns that they get on investments are also tax free. So making sure participants know this is important.

Investing can be as easy as starting with one dollar. It’s not some huge decision-making point in the account. You can start really small and ease your way in. I think there’s a lot of room for our partners to educate their account holders on the benefits of starting early in preparing for the long term.

I also think, from a partner and plan design perspective, employers can get really creative with how they incentivize certain consumer behavior in the HSA. As our partners are working with their employers, trying to dig into what outcomes you can support with an HSA plan, some of those things can be surprising. You’re trying to create a healthier workplace and a healthier employee base. Beyond savings, the HSA can also be used to incentivize healthy behaviors — things like depositing employer funds into HSAs when employees complete certain tasks, like getting a flu shot or completing a wellness exam. The flexibility of the accounts combined with the employer’s goals can create some powerful outcomes.

Twenty-two years is both long and not that long. We’re reaching the point where we finally have a substantial amount of data and history to show meaningful trends in consumer behavior. And that will only continue to increase. Using this data, we can continue to invest and adapt our products to better meet those consumer needs.

If you look at the HSA early on in its history, it was a very tactical account. There was always the mission to help consumers save more on healthcare expenses. But we didn’t have enough information about how people would engage with these accounts and what their experience would be.

So as we look ahead, it’s really exciting to now be able to have those insights and transform them into actionable campaigns. We can develop new tactics that engage more consumers and help them use their accounts even more effectively.

We are still seeing the number of bills being proposed that include language to carve out HSAs, to ensure that they preserve their tax benefits, expanding. The rules and rights around HSAs continue to increase. And so for that reason, I do see continued expansion on the horizon. We don’t know exactly when new laws will come to fruition, but certainly by volume, and with heavy support from groups like the HSA Council, there’s a lot of momentum for HSAs in the regulatory and legislative space.

Number one, it’s partnership. Alegeus is in a very unique position to be both the technology provider and the HSA custodian, through WealthCare Saver. The unique combination of those allows us insights into the consumer experience as well as the partner experience, with the governance to address what we hear. We’re able to move quickly and be agile and adapt to the HSA market as it changes.

As we’ve considered how to build a great HSA experience, we really focused on creating outcomes for all types of consumers. We know that HSA consumers are not all the same, and they don’t all use an HSA the same way. There’s no “one size fits all.” There are a lot of nuances that make it different from, say, a basic checking account.

Three things come to mind for me within our product. Number one, our integrated cost savings and find-care tools that bring together both the HSA experience, and the ability for consumers to enter in medical conditions, prescriptions, look for doctors, look for pharmacies and compare costs to figure out the best value for their dollar.

Often we see those cost-comparison tools existing outside of the HSA experience, and the HSA is really more focused on being a kind of status-quo account. The combination of the HSA and those intelligent cost-saving tools in the same environment is one way we’re focused on creating better outcomes for those that are spending their HSA funds regularly.

For those that are saving more for the long term or looking for less-active ways to create value, the second thing that differentiates the Alegeus HSA is our high-yield interest option. For account holders looking to earn higher interest on their cash balance, we provide a second deposit option. Powered by Pacific Life as our partner, it allows them to earn much higher interest than they would in a traditional account, without having to do much of anything. They just click a button, and that higher interest is available to them immediately.

The third is our persona-driven investment solution that’s also fully integrated with the HSA experience. Again, investments are something that we want to make as accessible as possible for participants. That means bringing it closer to the HSA experience so it’s not this massive decision that people need to make or something that seems too scary or too sophisticated. We want people to understand they can start creating value for the long-term now.

And so we’ve created an investment solution that has three different paths, each designed around a different investor persona. We see adoption within all three account types that proves the need for investment, personalization, within the HSA space.

So having the multi-path investment solution, the high-yield deposit option, and the integrated, intelligent cost-savings tools all combined, creates this holistic, differentiated HSA experience.